Exclusions

What is an exclusion and suspension?

Exclusion is when a child is not allowed to attend school permanently  and a suspension is when a child is not allowed to attend school temporarily. An exclusion or a suspension will typically follow an incident in which the child has behaved in a way that is described as being unacceptable in that school’s behaviour policy.  The headteacher can only suspend or exclude a child in line with the school’s behaviour policy.

An exclusion is a traumatic event in a child’s life; it can bring about feelings of confusion, rejection, fear and uncertainty. It can change how a child feels about their own worth. If your child is facing either of these things, this resource about exclusion can help them to make sense of what is happening. 

Types of exclusions

Permanent exclusions

A permanent exclusion is when the headteacher decides that your child should not return to that school. Schools should only exclude a pupil permanently as a last resort and usually as a consequence of:

• serious or continuous breach of the school’s behaviour policy; and
• a risk of harm to others in the school setting

If a school experiences a serious incident involving a child, which they feel gives them no choice but to exclude that child, the headteacher should contact their Team around the School. If unsure of the right person to contact, please email sendbusinesssupport@hackney.gov.uk

Alternatively, a school can contact our Exclusions Team (contact details are below) and they can signpost to further support, and discuss any available options and next steps. 

We can ensure that if no other option is available, there is an excellent level of information sharing that will inform planning and keep the child's needs at the centre of the process.

Suspensions

A suspension is when the headteacher excludes a pupil from school for a set number of days. This can be up to 45 school days in any year.

Schools must provide excluded students with full-time education from the sixth day of exclusion.

After an exclusion or suspension

Following a suspension, a child should be reintegrated back into school with a meaningful support plan in place (where appropriate) that has actions for the adults in their lives (teachers and parents) to support the child to resettle and to begin to thrive in school. 

Following a permanent exclusion, your child will not be able to return to that school unless they are reinstated during the process that follows the exclusion. 

Read the school exclusions guide for parents (GOV.UK).

Appealing an exclusion or suspension

You’ll receive a letter from the school notifying you of the suspension or exclusion of your child (if you would like to see an exemplar, there is a link at the bottom of this page to the standard letter we recommend our schools in Hackney use) and this letter will also tell you what to do if you disagree with the exclusion or suspension. 

You can ask the school’s governing board to overturn the suspension if either:

• your child has been suspended for more than 5 days
• the suspension means they’ll miss a public exam or national curriculum test

If the exclusion is for 5 days or fewer, you can still ask the governors to hear your views but they cannot overturn the headteacher’s decision.

You are able to challenge any permanent exclusion. The process around this is set out by the central government. The process has several parts:

1. Within fifteen school days of the exclusion being issued, the governing body will convene to review the headteacher’s decision to exclude. This meeting is called a Pupil Disciplinary Committee (PDC) and you and your child can give your views either in person or via a letter
2. If the governors overturn the exclusion your child is entitled to return to their school, however if they uphold the decision the exclusion will remain. You are able to continue your appeal even if the governing body uphold the decision at this stage. 
3. You are able to request an independent review panel to look again at the exclusion decision and at this stage you can have a specialist in SEND attend as well. 

Information if you are unhappy with a suspension or exclusion

You can make a claim to a court or a tribunal if you think your child’s been discriminated against. You need to do this within 6 months of the exclusion.

You can make a claim to a first-tier tribunal if you believe your child’s been discriminated against because of a disability.

Contact the Equality Advisory Support Service for help and advice.

For more general complaints (for example, if you do not want to challenge the exclusion but you’re not happy with the way the school handled it), follow the normal school complaints process.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

If a child or young person has SEND and is at risk of exclusion or has been given a fixed term or permanent exclusion, you can find more information on the Hackney Local Offer website.